I didn’t really have anywhere in mind.

While I knew that I could not continue, in the short term, to be alone (I was not strong enough to defend myself from the tons of monsters that would soon be attracted to my location), most older, more experienced Classers would've, at this point, killed me for the xp. There was no good option- but maybe, just maybe, a newly-Awakened Legendary would be more understanding and less likely to betray me for the xp?

Meh. Maybe. I thought it was worth a shot.

But as for how to find these hopefully-loyal, not-yet-killed Legendary children? I had no idea. My non-existent plan was to walk until I either saw them, the sounds of battle, or heard their screams for help.

And while I was walking, I practiced my vision-Mirror and my point-shield Mirror.

••••••••••

I realized that yet another problem with my Mirror-vision was keeping it directly in font of me, even when I was moving. When I cast Mirror, the shimmering light, while becoming as hard as steel when other things hit it, would've easily parted for my fingers and I was able to go straight through it. Unless I focused on keeping it exactly a foot in front of me, I would simply walk through it.

Luckily, I was me.

••••••••••

I think another likely suspect for people’s boring use of Skills is that, while they are infinitely malleable, they do have a preferred form. A Fireball, for example, is naturally inclined to be basketball-sized and go straight, but it can do any number of things, if one’s will is strong enough.

It takes work, changing a Skill’s natural form, but it can be done. Often, if you do it enough times, it will not only get you tons of accelerated Skill levels but could even get you Skills that didn’t require skill-slots.

Once you cast a Skill, you have the split-second before it manifests in order to decide what to do with it. It is, to be fair, rather tricky. You have to feel the flow of mana within your channels, visualizing what it is simultaneously with what you want it to be. There is no good way to explain it. If you’re not fast enough, the Skill will either not manifest, or will explode in your face.

And that is exactly what it did the first time.

I took a deep breath, and cast Mirror. In the split-second that stretched like an eternity, I saw the mana flowing through my channels and what Mirror was supposed to do, and then what I wanted it to be. I held it, the vision of my channels and Mirror-wall and Mirror-vision one on top of the other. It felt like my mind was exploding, messing with something that clearly did not want to be messed with. And then… it was too much. I hesitated for just a split second, my mind faltering as I forgot to see my channels for less than half a single second.

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WARNING: SKILL FAILURE.

And then, a foot in front of my eyes, a curved sheet of blue light appeared and then exploded in a burst of blue sparks. My face was peppered with tiny burns like ant bites, each continuing to sting long after the spark had disappeared.

But, I had did it.

Hello, Awakened!

You have learned the Skill: Mana Manipulation

Because you learned it through your own stupidity and pointless determination, this skill doesn’t require the use of a skill slot. Go you go. Yay. Moron.

And that was the other key to hacking Skills. The Skill Mana Manipulation. Honestly, looking back, I’m surprised it was still available. Alas, I suppose it makes sense- Mana Manipulation is seen as a cheap trick, the least of all the Manipulation Skills, by most. But if you go by what the most say… well, most are usually wrong.

Using Mana Manipulation, progress was much faster. Once you made a new configuration of a Skill, it was like it became another Skill itself- the first time was always the easiest, and as long as you didn’t confuse it with any of the other variations, you could cast it at will, just as if it was an independent Skill.

••••••••••

The end result of my Mirror-vision was almost exactly like the original (except for the fact that it didnt blow up), a slightly-curved, extra reflective and extra transparent, minimally shimmery sheet of blue light, but that was slightly tilted downward as it was slightly above my head, so that I could also see the spot directly behind me. It was just a little longer than my peripheral vision, and was thin and stout so that it would cost minimum mana. Of course, I could customize it so that it was slightly longer or slightly taller, depending on what I wanted, but my most basic version was more than enough for casual paranoia.

Coming up with a Mirror-shield was a bit harder, seeing as I had to design it for a specific attack. However, I did come up with a basic version, one that would be the foundation and that I could work off of. My Mirror-shield was a circle, about the size of an outstretched hand, that would turn from the classic Mirror blue light into crystallized, ice-like glitter when it came into contact with something. I practiced it whenever a plant or branch was in my way; instead of walking around it, or cutting it down with the sword in my scabbard, I would simply put a Mirror-shield in it’s way and watch it bounce off. This way, I could practice creating and destroying it without really worrying about what size it was. That would come later.

My last idea, Mirrored-mana, was almost exactly like the Mirror-shield except I couldn't really practice it. The end result was bigger than the average Mirror-shield, at around a foot both wide and across, but this was so all of the spell, including its aura, would be deflected. While I couldn't practice actually deflecting spells, I could practice angles.

And so my training while walking was simple. When a leaf fell, I cast a Mirrored-mana, and tried to deflect it away from me and towards the tree from whence it came. When a branch was in my way, I simply cast a Mana-shield and walked right through it as it was deflected. And when there was neither a leaf falling or a tree branching, I cast my basic Mirror-vision to see my complete surroundings at all times.